Alicia: Master of Wind Prologue & Season 1
by NinjagoGeek4EVER
Summary: Alicia is a ninja. It's been that way for nine years now. However, the growing threat of the Serpentine and Great Devourer is making it difficult for her to keep her past a secret. I guess the biggest question is, can the boys get through this distrustful girl's barricade, or is the Master of Wind too far out of anyone's reach?
1. Prologue

Two children were waving wooden toy swords around, pretending to be fighting an enemy. "Watch it," called the girl. "We know Spinjitzu," her brother finished. The two, laughing, charged forward, waving their toys and spinning. The boy lost his balance and fell on top of his sister. The crashed to the ground, laughing hysterically.

The twins looked out over the ocean, glistening beneath the sun. "I want to go there when I get older," the girl said. Her brother nodded. They saw their father's fishing boat on the water. They saw it moving. They also saw a rock jutting just out of the water. They were sure whoever was driving could not see it, for that was the last time they saw the boat on top of the water. Their father never came back, and they never saw their uncle, who was also aboard that boat, again.

"Father," the boy said. "Father," the girl repeated. Neither kid felt like playing anymore. Instead, they went inside and waited at the window for their mother to return. "Only about ten minutes or so," she had said about thirty seconds earlier. Five minutes passed. _What was that police car doing in their driveway?_ the twins thought they saw an officer climb out of the car and walk up to the door. He knocked. The twins had no choice but to answer.

"You the Lieson twins?" the police officer asked them. The twins nodded in unison. "I'm afraid I have some terrible news." he said. "Your mother was taken in a car crash." That was almost too much for the girl, who had just seen her father and uncle die in a shipwreck. The only thing that could make things worse was that if she was told that she would have to be separated from her brother.

"I'm also sorry to say that your aunt and cousin have vanished and that there are no orphanages that accept both boys and girls in all of Ninjago," said the officer. "You will have to be separated." Really?

That's when she woke up.


	2. Chapter 1

Alicia sat straight up in bed, wondering what had happened. Then she remembered where she was. She was at the monastery. She was a ninja now. She was the cream ninja to be specific. She heard Nya's soft snores and looked up at the clock. "6:00," Alicia muttered. Sensei Wu would be waking them up any time now. A gong crashed. _Right on schedule_ , she thought. "Morning," Nya said, cheerfully. "Morning" Alicia replied. Why was it that she couldn't tell anyone about her nightmares? The were a team, right? Surely she could tell them the whole reason she became a ninja. " _What about Sensei_?" the logical part of her mind asked. " _What would he say_?"

After breakfast, the whole team went their separate ways to do something or another. Alicia left to go train. The boys (of course) left to play video games. Nya and Sensei Wu cleaned up. Just another typical day as a ninja.

As she was training, Alicia got a little thirsty. She went inside to get some water. She couldn't help but overhear a conversation between Sensei and Nya. "She just seems so closed off sometimes," Nya said. "I'm just kind of worried about her." Alicia hated it when she was talked about behind her back.

"I know you're worried, but I just think that she still needs time to get used to everyone," Sensei replied. "Know, however, that it wasn't too long ago that she was the only ninja, and that she was always a little uncomfortable around people," he added. "She seems okay when she's alone, so just give her some time."

Alicia thought about this. Sensei wasn't wrong. In fact, he was absolutely correct. That, however, was only half of it. If only they knew what she had been through. Nya had, at one point, been separated from her brother, Kai, who had become a ninja for that very reason. Alicia remembered it like it was yesterday.

She continued training, phrases from the conversation running through her head.

That afternoon started as a normal afternoon would. Alicia sighed. She missed the good old days when the boys were training with her. Now, they just played video games, all day long, no care that Lord Garmadon might return someday. "Teenage boys," Alicia muttered to herself. She could even hear them from up here.

Sensei walked in. He sighed when he found Alicia all alone. Alicia pointed to where the boys were playing. He left to chew them out. About sixty seconds later, Nya burst in, a shocked expression on her face. "What happened?" Alicia asked Nya. "It's Garmadon," she replied. "He's back. He just seen approaching Jamanakai Village" "You go tell the boys, I'll pack up," Alicia told Nya. Nya nodded.

Alicia went to get their bags ready, not exactly sure what to expect.

The boys ran in just as Alicia finished packing up. After taking off, the boys were talking about Sensei's "full potential" speech, which Alicia had heard a million times. Somehow, they got to the point where Jay challenged everyone to a race. Couldn't those boys take being a ninja seriously?

When Jamanakai was in view, Kai said, "First ninja there wins."

After the boys landed and argued over who was the winner of the race, they walked into town. Everyone was screaming and running all over the place, all heading to the nearest building. The ninja heard cackling. "Stay sharp fellas," Kai said. "Whatever happens, never let your guard down." Eventually, a figure walked around a nearby fountain. "It is I, Lloyd Garmadon!" he said. "I demand all the candy in town, or else!" " _Lloyd_ Garmadon?" Jay asked. "I thought we were gonna face _Lord_ Garmadon." "It's his son," Cole explained. "Looks like he escaped his boarding school for bad boys again, and to think we could've been doing Spinjitzu already."

"Give me your candy," Lloyd repeated, "or else I'll release the Serpentine on you!" With that, he took a jar and unscrewed it. Inside were some toy snakes. A villager threw something at him. "No, wait!" he yelled. "I asked for candy, not vegetables! I hate vegetables!" More villagers were throwing things at him now.

"He's going have to do a lot better than use an old bedtime story to scare people," Kai said. "The Serpentine are real, Kai," Zane replied. "They are not something to joke about." "Serpentine? Real?" Kai asked. "We're talking about the ancient race of snake people who once ruled Ninjago and were supposedly locked underground?" "Sealed in five different tombs to separate the warring tribes, to ensure they don't unify, to exact their revenge upon those who put them there," Jay said, sounding a little frightened.

"It was an old wives' tale to teach kids not to poke our noses where they don't belong," Kai argued. "Don't you think it's a little suspicious no one's ever found one of their tombs?" "That's because you'd have to be a fool to look for one," Cole countered. "If there was anything I hated more than dragons," he added, "it was snakes, rubber or not."

Lloyd had lost his balance and the ninja caught him. Cole said to the crowd, "Don't worry, folks. We'll take care of this. Nothing to see here." "Bow down, or suffer my wrath!" Lloyd shouted. "I'll give you to the count of three." He started counting. "What are we supposed to do?" Kai asked. "Spank him?" "If his wrath involves rubber snakes," Alicia said to the boys, "then I'm going to be laughing too hard to feel any pain."

A short time later, Lloyd was hanging from a building, courtesy of Alicia. "You've just made me your nemesis!" he shouted. "Mark my words, you'll pay for this!" Everybody just laughed. "You're going to have to do something bigger than this to get me to care, small fry," Alicia said as Zane bought some candy for the team. "Next time, try paying for your candy," Cole advised. "Crime doesn't pay, muchacho," Kai added. "You can take that to the bank." Jay took a couple bites from his cotton candy.

As they were mounting their dragons for the ride home, Kai accidentally kicked his bag and a scroll fell out. Zane picked it up. "Huh? I don't remember putting this here," Kai said. "That's Sensei's bag," Zane said. "You must've accidentally took it in the rush." Kai unrolled it. "What is it?" Jay asked. "It's a scroll, windbag," Kai answered. "I know it's a scroll," Jay replied "but what does it say? It's written in chicken scratch." "Not chicken scratch," Zane corrected. "The ancient language of our ancestors." "Can you read it?" Kai asked. "Well, I can try," Zane answered. Now Alicia was curious. What did the scroll say?

"This symbol means prophecy," Zane said, pointing at symbol on the scroll. "Prophecy?" Jay asked. "It means it tells the future," Kai said. "Course," Jay said. "I knew that." Zane read from the scroll. "One ninja will rise above the others and become the Green Ninja, the ninja destined to defeat the dark lord." "Oh, look," Jay said. "A picture." "Dark lord?" Kai asked. "Hold on. You think they mean Lord Garmadon? Wait a minute. Is that us? Is anyone else thinking what I'm thinking?"

The Green Ninja. It had to be about the Green Ninja. Alicia remembered how, during her training one day, Sensei wondered if she was the Green Ninja. She was a little disappointed to find out she wasn't, but she wasn't going to let a little thing like that slow her down. She had still had her family on her mind.

"Like how good I'm gonna look in green?" Jay asked. "Ha. Isn't it obvious I'm gonna be the Green Ninja?" Kai asked. "The color obviously suits me," Jay argued.

Boys.

"Technically, I am the best," Zane countered. "Everyone, stop it," Cole said. "Remember why Sensei brought us together in the first place: we're a team. We weren't meant to see this and probably for good reason." ( _probably?_ Alicia thought.) "Come on, let's head back home. We have training to do." Finally, one of the boys was talking sense. "It's about time I added some finesse to my routine," Jay said. "Well, I could use some exercise," Zane said. "Yeah, I've got to work on some new moves," Cole said. They were finally taking training seriously. They took off, Kai muttering, "Could I be the Green Ninja?" to himself.

When they got home, the Green Ninja was all the boys could talk about. "So then, we all agree," Jay said. "The prophecy states that one of us will become the Green Ninja, and the issue will not rest until it is decided." "May I suggest a tournament?" Zane offered. "Last ninja standing is the best." "And will be declared the Green Ninja," Kai finished. "I love it."

Nya was working with the training equipment. She was really good. She only fell off when she crashed into an axe. "Hey, Nya," Jay said nervously. "Closer to beating your brother's speed record?" "I'm getting there," she answered. "Of course the real trick is beating _Alicia's_ record," Cole said. Nya ignored him. "Heard what happened in town. Just a false alarm?" "Yeah," Kai answered. "but we're gonna need this space. Sorry, sis." Cole went over to the storage cabinet and tossed armor to everyone. "Two matches, then the winners of each face off for the title," he said. "Armor's for our own protection. It's time to see what these babies can do." He said the last sentence as he held up his weapon. "Let me know when this is over," Alicia said.

She went to the room that she shared with Nya. Alicia sat down on her bed. She reached under her pillow and pulled out a necklace. She turned the pendant over in her hands. One of the few possession that she had kept since childhood. The one thing she still had that was from her brother. She reached under her bed and pulled out a photo album. She started flipping through the pages, stopping at every single picture she thought was important.

The day they were born. Their first birthday. Their first family reunion. Their second birthday. Their first vacation. Their third birthday. The time they were caught pretending to be birds. Their fourth birthday. Their first time in Ninjago City. Their fifth birthday, the last picture in the album. Alicia saw herself in the picture, wearing the necklace she currently held in her hand. Her brother, holding a dull sword sheath that still had the sword in it. Alicia could almost hear herself speak in her five-year-old voice. "A good luck charm," she had said.

Alicia looked at the necklace, both the one in the photo and the one in her hand. The symbol that made the pendent was why it was so special to her, for the symbol meant "sister." She cherished the necklace, more than almost anything else. She sighed as she looked at the picture again. Just a carefree kid with nothing to fear. Just a happy girl with a happy life.

She wondered what would've happened if her father hadn't gone fishing that day. If her mother hadn't decided to run errands at that time. On one hand, she would still have her family. She would still be with her brother. On the other hand, she probably wouldn't be a ninja. She probably would never have met Sensei, the boys, or Nya.

Alicia opened a window to give the air some room to roam. She heard screams, hisses, and cackling, the same cackling from earlier that day. She had to warn the boys. She burst into the training yard at the same time Sensei Wu did. Both had the same message.

"The Serpentine are back!" they yelled in unison. "Everyone in Jamanakai Village is in danger!" Sensei added. "Calm down you two," Cole said. "We were just there. You were there, Alicia. It was some kid who says he's-" Cole never got the chance to finish his sentence. "The spirit smoke does not lie," Sensei said. "Neither does the wind," Alicia added. She often got warnings from the wind. The only time one of the warnings was a false alarm was when the wind was testing Alicia to see if she was good enough to become a ninja.

"An ancient evil has been released," Sensei said after Alicia had commented. "Nya's there right now," Kai said. "Nya?" Jay asked. Alicia wondered if Jay had a secret crush on Nya. It wouldn't surprise her if he did.

The ninja, for the second time that day, rushed to their dragons. "Stay close. Stay together," Kai said. "Would we do it any other way?" Cole asked.

They got to Jamanakai Village quickly. They surprised Lloyd when they dismounted from their dragons while they were still flying. It was a move that had taken forever to perfect (it had actually taken no more than a month). "Sorry to bust your buzz, little Garmadon," Cole said, "but it's already past your bedtime." "The Serpentine?" Kai asked. "They're real?" "It's not just them we have to worry about," Cole said, looking over his shoulder. "The whole village has been hypnotized." Jay whipped out his nunchucks and started swinging them around. "No," Zane said. "Our weapons are too unstable. We could do more harm than good." "I guess that leaves us with: run!" Jay shouted. The ninja dashed off onto the rooftops. They eventually hid behind a building with a wagon next to it. A soft thud grabbed their attention.

"Nya?" Kai asked. "You're okay," Jay said. "Barely," she replied. "They've hypnotized everyone in town." "I think we've figured that out already," Alicia said.

"Mind control," Jay said. "How is this possible?" "These are the Hypnobrai," Alicia said. "One of the five ancient races of Serpentine." "When you hear them rattle their tails, don't look them in the eyes," Nya explained. "That's how they get you." "Well, what are we supposed to do?" Jay asked. "We can't use our weapons, and now we've got to fight with our eyes closed? Perfect." "The snake with the staff is the general," Nya said. "He's the one in charge. If we can get the staff from him, it holds the antivenom. If we get that, we can save everyone."

"Look, guys," Kai said. "Forget about the whole Green Ninja thing. Let's make Sensei proud. The five of us, we're a team." "Now you're talking," Cole said. "Oh, and Nya," Jay said, "you can be our honorary member." "Gee, thanks," Nya said sarcastically.

Kai made an attempt to fight off some snakes, but crashed into a wall while doing Spinjitzu. "Okay, we're really out of shape," Jay said. "You think?" Alicia asked.

While the Hypnobrai were making an attempt to flee, Cole kicked the general, causing him to drop his staff. He then picked it up. Alicia was too busy with other snakes to see what happened next.

"Ninja, go!" Alicia shouted, as she launched into a perfect Spinjitzu. This completely baffled the snakes, who had dealt with Kai's face-to-face with the wall.

"Unlike the boys, I've been practicing," she shouted, loud enough for them to hear. "Oh come on, Alicia," they all called back. "Hey, it's not _my_ fault you guys decide to play video games instead of train," she replied.

After the village went back to normal, Kai talked to Sensei, who had just appeared. "We're sorry, Sensei," he said. "If we had dealt with Lloyd before he became a problem, none of this would've been necessary." "Even lessons learned the hard way are lessons learned," Sensei replied. "A great evil has been released. I fear troubling times will come. This is only the beginning." "Then we will train, and be ready for the Serpentine," Zane said. "I'll believe it when I see it," Alicia muttered. "Alicia," Sensei warned.

"No, she's right," Cole said. "She was the only one of us who took training seriously, and was the only one of us that was actually ready for this kind of thing. Anyway, it may not be Lord Garmadon, but that doesn't mean we won't bring our A game." "Help us train," Kai said, "help us realize our potential." "Teach us the secrets behind the weapons of Spinjitzu," Jay added.

"There is much to teach," Sensei commented. "We must return to the monastery." Nya sighed. "When am I gonna get my own dragon?" she asked Sensei. "Patience, Nya," Sensei replied. "Your time will come." "I just hope the boys are serious about training," Alicia said.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter II**

"My turn, It's my turn!" Cole shouted. "Oh, you want a little more? Take this." "Yeah?" Kai asked. "How about a little of this?" Alicia was glad the boys were actually training today. "Monkey paw to the head." Cole said, unleashing one of his moves. "Ninja roll," Jay said. "Dragon punch!" Kai shouted.

"Ninja, go!" Kai shouted as he launched into some Spinjitzu. He had gotten a lot better at it since his face-off against the snakes. Zane was meditating. He suddenly went a little wild. First, he put an arrow in the bolt that connected Jay's nunchucks, then, he stole Cole's weapon and cut a dummy with it, and for his finale, froze the floor and training equipment. Kai was still doing Spinjitzu and slipped on the ice. Alicia was hopping from post to post, and slipped and fell when they froze. The four gathered.

"This roof isn't big enough for the five of us," Kai said. "Correction," Cole replied. "This roof isn't big enough for him." "It's like he's in his own world," Jay added. "I bet he can't even hear us." Jay said this last part quite loudly, looking over his shoulder at Zane. "Okay, that's just mean," Alicia said. She was a little frustrated at Zane, but not enough to be saying things like that behind his back.

She knew what that was like, to be talked about behind her back, and besides, Zane was human too.

Sensei walked in. "Sensei, Zane's weird," Kai said. "What is weird?" Sensei asked in response. "Someone who is different, or someone who is different than you?" "No, Sensei," Cole answered, "he's 'weird' weird." Alicia couldn't help but agree. "We like the guy, he's really smart," Kai said. "He's just...a little off sometimes." "Zane is a brother, and brothers are often different," Sensei said. "I should know."

A gong crashed. "Mail!" all the ninja but Zane shouted. The mail guy sighed. "Let's see," he said, "a letter from Jay's parents. Kai has a fan letter. Oh, something from Cole's father." "What, no package?" Cole asked. "I'm expecting something from Creatures, Beasts, and Beyond." "Nothing for..." he said. "Ah, here it is." "Rocky's gonna love this," Cole said. Cole rushed down to his dragon.

"Hey Zane, Alicia, how come you never hear from your parents?" Jay asked. Zane answered quickly. "I don't remember my parents," he said. "I've been an orphan all my life." Alicia looked at him. "You mean you've never had a home?" Jay she'd him. _Must…not…zone…out..,_ Alicia thought.

That evening, everyone sat around the table, waiting for dinner. "I love it when it's Zane's night to cook," Jay said. "Hey," Cole said, "I didn't hear any complaints about my duck chowder last night." Alicia laughed. "That's because it glued our mouths shut," Kai replied. "You really thought Jay was speechless all throughout dinner?" Alicia asked when she had stopped laughing. "Yeah. Please don't make that again," Jay said.

Zane walked in then. "Dinner is served," he said. There was a little bit of silence while they took it in then everyone burst out laughing. "What's so funny?" Zane asked. "Zane, you're wearing a…" Nya said. "Well, even I wouldn't wear that."

"You laugh because I take steps to ensure that I am clean after cooking?" Zane asked. Kai laughed again. "No, we laugh because you came out wearing that ridiculous outfit," he said. "I would've at least taken the apron off," Alicia said. "I guess we don't share the same sense of humor," Zane replied. "Well, how about this?" Cole asked, picking up his plate and shoving into Kai's face.

Everyone but Zane laughed again. Sensei stood up. "How could you not find that funny?" Cole asked. Sensei picked up a bowl and dumped it over Cole's head. "Now you are brothers," he said. "Food fight!" Alicia yelled, picking up a piece of food from her plate and throwing it at Nya.

After their food fight, everyone got ready for bed. Alicia couldn't sleep that night. Too many memories kept her awake. She looked up at the stars and wondered, once again, if her biological brother was among them. "Oh, Jackson," she sighed. "I hope you're doing well." She was able to sleep after that.

That morning, after breakfast, Zane got everyone geared up for a mission by telling them that he had found Lloyd's headquarters the night before. They followed him for a while, but then they started to doubt their friend.

"I don't think Zane knows where he's going," Kai said. "Tell us again how you stumbled upon Lloyd's secret headquarters?" "I followed a bird," Zane replied. The ninja were all a little baffled. "Why did you follow a bird?" Jay asked. "Because it danced," Zane answered. "Oh, okay," Jay responded. "Was it a cuckoo bird?" Kai, Jay, and Cole laughed. "Of course not," Zane answered. "Everyone knows cuckoo birds are not indigenous to these forests." The boys shrugged at each other. "It means 'native,'" Alicia defined.

"Watch it!" they heard Lloyd shout. "No, bigger! Come on, we don't have all day! It's not time for a lunch break!" "Holy cannoli," Cole exclaimed, "Frosty was right." "We can't let that brat and those snakes get a foothold in Ninjago," Kai said. "We gotta destroy that thing before it becomes operational."

"Whoa, are you sure?" Jay asked. "It looks like a pretty cool tree house. There's a ropes course. Oh, a tree swing." "Hey," Cole said. "Remember whose team you're on. All right guys, what do we do?" "It looks like the place is supported by those three trees," Kai said, as he pointed to three different trees. "Once those ties are severed, the whole thing is gonna fall like a house of cards." "But, why would one make a house of cards?" Zane asked. "Such construction would be careless."

"I think the first card house was made when somebody looked at a deck of playing cards and wondered what else could be done with them," Alicia said. The others looked a bit confused at her random comment. "Sorry, complete non sequitur." All the boys but Zane looked confused. "A non sequitur is when something is said in a conversation that does not relate to the topic of that conversation," Zane defined. "Oh, brother," Kai sighed. "Travel in shadows, gang," Cole said. "Is there any other way?" Alicia asked.

After getting to the top, the ninja spied on Lloyd a bit. He chuckled. "It's almost finished," he said. "Soon, my fortress will be complete. You!" He pointed at a snake. "Hold up that sign for me," Lloyd requested. The snake did. The sign said "No girls or ninja." "I bet that goes double for me," Alicia whispered. The boys grinned (it was pretty hard to tell though, as no one but another ninja could've been able to). Lloyd pushed a lever, and the snake fell. "Booby trap!" Lloyd yelled down.

Jay and Zane had no trouble whatsoever cutting the first two vines. It was then Lloyd spotted Kai and Alicia. "I said no ninja," he exclaimed. "Attack!"

"Everyone, retreat!" yelled one of the snakes. "Boy, someone doesn't like who they're serving," Alicia said. Kai nodded. "Cole, wait till we're off the tree house," he shouted, "then cut the line." Cole nodded. Alicia couldn't help but feel as though something wasn't quite right with him. She found out soon enough. The snake that told everyone to retreat pointed at Cole and said, "You will obey my every command." "I will obey your every command," Cole repeated. Alicia wondered how long Cole had been under that snake's control.

Jay and Zane jumped down next to Kai and Alicia. "Where's Cole?" Jay asked. Kai pointed as Jay added, "This whole place is coming down." Cole jumped in front of them. "No one goes anywhere, until you deal with me," he said. "What's gotten into him?" Kai asked. "He's under their control," Zane answered. "Yeah, well, he better snap out of it quick," Jay said, "because this whole place looks like it's about to go down."

"Don't go," Alicia heard Lloyd say to the snakes. "We have to protect my tree house fortress." "Your tree house?" the snake replied, angrily. "It's about time we did this." "Did what?" Lloyd asked. The snake pulled a lever and a trap door fell from beneath Lloyd. Other nearby snakes laughed. "Now to get the staff," the first snake said.

Alicia forced her mind back to the fight. "Okay, now come on," Jay said to Cole. "Friends don't hit friends." Cole kicked Jay in the face. _Unless they're being controlled by the Hypnobrai_ , Alicia thought. "Okay," Jay said, his voice sounding a little muffled. "I'm gonna ignore that."

"What are we supposed to do?" Kai asked. Alicia shrugged at him as he dodged a punch from Cole. "If I use my sword, this place will go up in flames faster than a tinderbox." "Isn't the antivenom in the staff?" Zane asked. "Yeah, but the staff is back at the monastery," Jay replied.

Cole succeeded in landing a kick on Kai, who crashed onto a piece of wood and would've fallen had Zane not been able to catch him. "Jay, use your lightning," Zane suggested. "Try to shock him out of his trance."

"Sorry, Cole," Jay said. "This is gonna hurt you a lot more than it's gonna hurt me." He started swinging his nunchucks around, eventually getting enough electricity to send out a pulse of lightning. Everyone paused, hoping Cole was okay. Nope. He was still under the Hypnobrai's control.

Cole rushed right up to Jay and punched him off the edge. "Jay!" Alicia, Zane, and Kai shouted. Jay, fortunately, was able to grab hold of a vine and he swung two floors below. The entire structure rocked with his weight. "Okay, that is a serious safety hazard," he said, struggling to keep his balance.

Cole jumped to where the last vine still supported the tree house. He looked like he was ready to cut it. "No, Cole, don't!" Kai shouted. 'No," Zane called. "No, Cole, no." Soft flute music started playing nearby.

Alicia's first thought was _This place is too dangerous for anyone but professionals, so what on earth is a pedestrian doing here_? but then she realized that the person playing the flute was even more of a professional then any of the ninja. In fact, he trained the ninja.

Thanks to Sensei's flute, Cole was able to snap out of it completely. "Where am I?" he asked. "What are we doing?" "We're getting out of here because this whole place is coming down," Nya said in response to Cole's question. Cole hopped up onto Flame, Kai's dragon. The other four followed in suit.

"Not a moment too soon," Alicia said, looking over her shoulder as the treehouse came crashing down. "That flute," Kai said. "It cancels their powers," Jay finished. "It's as old as the Serpentine themselves," Sensei replied, "but we must hurry. The monastery's unguarded. Quickly."

They returned to the monastery, at least what was left of it. They only found burning ruins. "We're too late," Kai said. "Those snakes." They heard their dragons growling from fear. "Rocky," Cole said. Cole went to free the dragons. "Our home," Kai said. "Shard, put this out," Zane called to his dragon. Shard did. Everyone stood around.

"The training equipment, gone," Zane said. Alicia was surprised they cared about that. "Our video games, gone," Jay said. Alicia was _not_ surprised they cared about that. "My photo album, gone," Alicia whispered. "They stole their staff back," Sensei said. "What do we do now?" Cole asked. He was nuzzled by Rocky. Kai picked something up. He crushed it in his hand.

"If you hadn't followed that silly bird, none of this would've happened," Kai said in Zane's face. "Kai," Sensei warned. "No, Sensei, he's right," Jay said, sounding quite angry. "Because of you, my high score has been deleted." he said to Zane.

"This is a teaching moment," Zane said. "We must learn from this." "A teaching moment?" Cole asked. "What's wrong with you? Don't you get it? Everything is gone!"

"Enough!" Sensei shouted. "We are all at fault. Zane is your brother. Apologize at once." "I'm sorry, Zane," Cole said. "I-" He stopped when he found that no one was listening to him. "Zane?" Jay asked.

Alicia looked over her shoulder just in time to see Shard flying away, the white ninja on his back. She glared at the others. "Nice going," she said. "Who knows if he'll come back, or of we'll see him again."

They mounted their dragons and flew off in hopes of finding Zane. Alicia had something to say to each of the boys.

"What's more important, high scores, or family?" she asked Jay. He only looked down.

"You can accept every moment as a teaching moment," she told Cole. "If anything's stuck in my head from ninja training, it's that."

"If Zane hadn't followed that bird, Lloyd and the snakes would've gotten a foothold in Ninjago," she said to Kai. "Then they would've been much harder to beat." She looked at Sensei and saw that he approved of this.

"Why weren't you mad at Zane?" Nya asked. Alicia shook her head. "I was," she answered. "However, I've dealt with almost too much loss for my opinion. I knew that if I said those kind of things, Zane would almost certainly fly away. Look what happened."

Nya nodded in response.

After flying around with no success of finding Zane, the team was forced to stop at the top of a mountain. Dinner didn't look very appealing, and it didn't taste very good, but it was the best they had.

"What are we eating again?" Kai asked. "Mud newt," Cole replied. "Not bad, for something that lives underground." "Ick," Alicia said as she took a second bite.

Jay threw his into the fire that they had made. He tossed a rock at a tin can that was serving as a trash can. It made it in. "Yeah, he said, "a new high sc-score."

"Remember, we must be thankful for what we still have," Sensei said. "What do we have?" Cole asked. "Our home is gone." "We still have each other, and our dragons," Alicia answered. "Though I wish we were home." "You know, I don't miss our home," Kai said, "what I really miss is Zane."

"Yeah," Jay agreed. "I miss Zane." "Zane?" Nya asked, hopefulness in her voice. "Yeah, Zane," Jay replied, completely missing the hope in Nya's voice. Boys, probably the most oblivious beings on the planet. Alicia looked over her shoulder in the direction Nya was looking and her jaw dropped. Jay continued. "You know, white ninja? The smart, strange one?" "Zane!" Alicia shouted, suddenly finding her voice again. "Zane!" the other ninja repeated. They walked over to greet their friend.

"Oh, Zane," Jay said. "We're so sorry for everything we said. We're a team, and that means we're all responsible." "You don't need to apologize to me," Zane replied. "But what about all those awful things we said?" Kai asked. "Isn't that why you left?" "Of course not," Zane answered. "I saw the falcon again and I followed him." "That's our Zane," Cole said. _Almost makes one wonder…_ Alicia thought

They all went in for a group hug. "We're happy to have you back," Nya said happily. "Very," Alicia added. "Why?" Zane asked. "Is it my turn to make dinner?"

Alicia laughed along with the others. What was this feeling inside? Alicia was almost unfamiliar with it, but she didn't want it to go away, ever. "Yes, Zane," Sensei replied. "We would love for you to make dinner." "But I already made it," Zane said in response. "Come, let me show you what I found. I think you will all be pleased."

On the way, Alicia asked Zane, "Do you really think the only reason we keep you around is because you're an awesome chef?" Zane smiled. "Not that I don't like your cooking, it's wonderful. It isn't the only reason though." Alicia sighed. "I lost my entire family when I was five: father and uncle in a fishing accident, mother in a car crash, aunt and cousin vanished, and was separated from my twin brother, all in the same day. This necklace is the only thing that I still have. I can't believe those (bleep) snakes burned my photo album." She said that last sentence mostly to herself. "Sorry," she said. "Sometimes I get lost in my own world." "Been there," Zane replied. They continued in silence.

"I can't explain it," Zane said when they got to wherever he was taking them, "but I feel a strange connection with the falcon. I think he's trying to help show us the path we need to take." They rounded a rock and found a ship. It looked old, but entirely functional. "Our new home," Zane said. "The falcon brought you here?" Alicia asked. Zane nodded. "Do I smell pie?" Jay asked.

"Cobbler berry," Zane answered. "Oh, and I made myrtle berry, and apple, and-" "No more spoilers," Alicia told Zane as she rushed to get some pie, the others following close behind except for Zane and Sensei. There were almost too many pies on the ship. Note the word almost.

Soon they were all seated around a table, laughing recent events away. It was then Zane decided to start the second food fight in 24 hours. He picked up his plate and threw it at Cole, making everyone laugh. Alicia knew now what the feeling from earlier was, for it had only grown stronger. Love. The kind of love you share with your friends.

Alicia knew that, after eleven years of searching, she was finally home.


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: Yay, another chapter.**

 **Thanks to all who are reading this right now. You don't know how much it means to me.**

 **And a very special thanks to WindNinja333, for all that you've done for me. Especially with my one-shots.**

Alicia woke up at 6:00 the next day, mostly out of habit, for it wasn't until 7:00 that Sensei woke them up. "Evil doesn't sleep and neither should you," Alicia heard him say to the boys. "In order to reach your full potential, we must greet each day as an opportunity." Alicia got up and looked around the room that she shared with Nya. "We need to clean this place up," Alicia said to her roommate. "I agree," Nya replied. It took almost an hour, but they finally got their room more presentable. Alicia then helped the boys clean around the ship.

Cole used Spinjitzu to clear some junk out of the way (she later saw the junk with a sign that said "garage sale"), then Zane and Kai combined their powers to make the room clean. Jay powered up the ship using his powers. They also opened the sails (which was way easier said than done) and dusted the deck.

They were finally finished.

Alicia trained on deck while the boys left to play video games. It was like that when Sensei Wu returned. After some conversation, Alicia heard a car horn blow.

Apparently, she wasn't the only one.

"Looks like we're about to have some visitors," Nya said. "And loud ones at that." "Oh, it's my parents," Jay said. "Please, if they start yapping, just don't get them going? They don't know when to quit. If you start talking, then they'll start, and suddenly half the day is gone-" "We get it," Kai interrupted. "They talk a lot. The cherry doesn't fall far from it's blossom."

"Mom, dad," Jay said,pretending to be happy after they had all gone up on deck to greet his parents. "What are you doing here?" "Oh, look it's my baby boy," Jay's mother said. "It's been so long since we've heard from you." "Ma, I called you two days ago," Jay replied.

"Well, it's not soon enough, son," Jay's father said. "When are you coming out to the junkyard? You say you're coming, and then you don't." "Dad, do we have to talk about the junkyard in front of my friends?" Jay asked. "He hates it when we tell people he was born in a junkyard," Jay's mother said. "Oh, and who are you?" she asked Nya. "You're so cute. You're just my son's type." "Mom!" Jay said, sounding more than a little annoyed. "It's a pleasure meeting you," Nya said to Jay's mom.

"I'm sure if you want, Jay can give you the tour. He worked very hard on it." "We'd love a tour," both of Jay's parents replied at once.

Alicia giggled. "Are parents always like this?" she asked Jay. "Yes," he answered.

They toured the ship with Jay's parents. Alicia excused herself to go to her room. She wasn't sure if she could keep herself from laughing through the whole tour.

It was Alicia's turn to make dinner that night. She made her famous apple curry soup. Alicia was the only one who could even come close to rivaling Zane's cooking. At least according to Jay. Alicia almost laughed again when she remembered Jay's parents.

After dinner, they all got ready for bed. Alicia heard a shout from the boy's bathroom and Cole came out soaking wet. "Alright, who rigged the bathroom sink?" he asked, looking ready to strangle whoever did. Everyone laughed, though the one who laughed the hardest was Alicia. "Come on Cole," Alicia said between laughs. "It's been such a long time since I had any fun. Besides, can't you take a joke?"

That morning dawned with new chores. Alicia didn't really mind, however, for it meant more time with the other ninja as a team. Besides, who says you can't clean, train, and have fun at the same time?

Alicia had an idea to get Jay to see his parents. When he wasn't around, she filled the others in. "Great idea," Cole said. "Sneaky," Kai said. "Ingenious," Nya agreed. "I just hope it works," Alicia said. "Of course it will," Zane said. "Trust us, it will."

Jay was working on the button when they executed Alicia's plan. "Boy we sure have a lot of junk piling up," Kai said to Zane when Jay was close enough to hear. "If only there was a place where we could get rid of it." "If you don't mind, I'm trying to focus," Jay said angrily.

Onto plan B. Cole picked up a phone. He didn't dial a number, but it really wasn't necessary that he did. "Hi, mom and dad," he said into the phone, "of course I'd love to visit. What kind of son would I be if I didn't want to?" Jay pretended to laugh. "I know what you're trying to do," he said. "Okay, look. I might have promised to visit my parents. But there's a lot of stuff on my plate."

Onto plan C. Alicia "accidentally" dropped some old pieces of wood she was carrying. "Sorry," she said as she picked them up. Nya walked in. Jay laughed nervously. "Hi, Nya," he said, clearly getting butterflies all of a sudden.

So Alicia was right. Jay has a crush on Nya.

"You gonna visit your parents today?" Nay asked. "Uh, sure am," he answered. "Just about to leave." "Tell them I say hi," Nya said. The ninja looked at Jay. "What?" he asked. "So my plate's not that full."

"I can't believe we had to resort to plan C," Alicia said to the others when Jay was out of earshot. "I told you," Kai said. "Plan C should've been plan A."

Outside, Jay was getting ready to mount his dragon, Wisp while Alicia trained in the desert heat (she wanted to make sure she was ready for a fight in any sort of environment). From what Alicia could see and hear, Wisp wasn't himself today. She also overheard Sensei talking to Jay about it.

"Every adolescent dragon goes through a transformation before it becomes an adult.," Sensei said. "We must allow them to migrate east to the Spirit Coves for their transformation." "Will we see them again?" Jay asked. "It is hard to say," Sensei replied. The others walked by as Sensei was talking. "But we need to allow them to follow their path," Sensei continued. "Rocky's going east?" Cole asked. "Say it isn't so, Rocky." All the ninja were a little sad.

Jay walked up to Nya. "Well, I guess I gotta go on this looong walk all by myself," he said. "Sure be nice to have company." "Of course we will, buddy," Kai said. Apparently, Jay had forgotten that the other ninja were within earshot. "I could use a break," Cole said. "All you had to do was ask," Zane added. "Then we'll all go, together," Alicia said.

They watched their dragons fly off. Sensei played on the flute. "Of all the days to lose our ride," Jay sighed. Zane walked up to pace with Sensei, who was leading the pack. "That flute," Zane said, "you've never told us why it's so special."

"Long ago there were many flutes, created to combat the powers of the serpentine and drive them underground," Sensei replied. "But over time, Ninjago's forgotten its ancestor's wisdom, and now this is the only one." He played in Jay's face, as if to show him something. "I get the lesson," he said, "respect your elders, or else suffer the consequences. Boy you guys are laying it on thick." Sensei chuckled. "Perhaps you are only hearing what you need to hear," he said.

They were there.

Alicia felt a presence in the wind, many presences, actually. Of all of them, she had only felt one of them before. The rest gave her deja vu. She couldn't place her finger on it though, so she pushed that thought to the back of her head.

Jay had stopped. Something was clearly wrong in his mind. "What is it?" Nya asked. "It's quiet," Jay answered. "My family is never quiet." He put up his hood (for all those thinking that the ninja had their hoods up the whole time, imagine walking through a desert with a hood up and trying not to feel the heat), the other ninja following in suit. They dashed inside.

Alicia suddenly remembered where she had felt that presence before. She remembered she had felt it when Lloyd was in Jamanakai Village both times.

Lloyd Garmadon was in Jay's home.

They heard muffled shouts from an old refrigerator (at least that's what it looked like to Alicia) and Jay kicked it open. "What happened?" Jay asked. "Who did this?" Jay peeled some duct tape from his mother's mouth. "Sweetheart, you came," she said, holding out the "s" a little longer than strictly necessary. "You gotta get out of here," Jay's father said when Jay peeled the duct tape from his mouth. Alicia felt the other presences (in other words, the presences that were not from Lloyd) again. They were similar to the Hypnobrai, but they were different in a way.

 _Another Serpentine tribe must've been released,_ she thought. _No doubt Lloyd has something to do with this._ "You shouldn't have come," Jay's father added. "It's the snakes." _Called it,_ Alicia thought. "The bite of the Fangpyre," Sensei said. Alicia shuddered. "That's the tribe that can turn anything into a snake, right?" Alicia asked, not sure whether she wanted to hear the answer. The others looked horrified. Sensei nodded. "After they bite, it's only a matter of time before the full transformation is complete," he said.

They heard something from around a trash pile. An army of snakes appeared. _I guess they really_ can _turn anything into a snake,_ Alicia thought, as a crane-and-wrecking-ball snake came with the army of Serpentine. "Is that wrecking ball staring at me?" Cole asked. Indeed, that's what it seemed like. It swung towards them. "Duck!" Jay shouted at the same time Alicia shouted, "Take cover!" Jay's parents were standing there, too afraid to move. Jay shoved them out of the way. "Thanks, son," Jay's father said.

"Lloyd," Sensei said. "Hello, uncle," Lloyd replied. "Looks like we're not the only family reunion." Alicia knew these words were not directed at her, but they hurt. She had so many flashbacks run through her head. The more she tried to get her head back, the more flashbacks came. She could hear voices, but they were faint and nonsensical. The thing that brought her back to her senses was the wrecking ball snake that sent her flying into the old refrigerator. " What happened?" she asked, sounding a little dazed.

"Easier said than done, sis," Kai said to Nya. "We're a bit outnumbered." Zane turned to Alicia. "You're normally a lot better than that," he said. "What happened?" "Flashbacks," Alicia replied simply. "Nobody messes with my family," Jay said to the snakes. He started on the snakes. The others followed in suit.

Alicia was too busy with some snakes on the far side of the junkyard. This was going to take a while. "Ninja go!" she shouted as she launched into a Spinjitzu.

She couldn't hear all that was going on. The only thing that she did hear was Lloyd's command to retreat.

She got to the others just as Sensei finished telling Jay something. Was it was, Alicia will never know. "What?" Jay asked Sensei. "Now is not the time to be cryptic." "He's saying that our weapons are vehicles themselves," Zane translated in such term that Jay could understand. Of everyone there, Alicia thought Jay had the simplest mind.

"Don't tell me I have to ride this like a broomstick?" Kai said. Alicia snickered to herself. That was one hilarious image if she ever saw one.

"Jay," Sensei said to him, "concentrate on unlocking your Golden Weapon. Let your heart guide you. Imagine you're taking flight." Jay focused on his nunchucks. Alicia wondered (not for the first time) what it would be like to wield a Golden Weapon. After spinning it wildly a few times (emitting lightning bolts as he did so), it made what looked like a plane to Alicia.

"Whoa!" he shouted. "Ha-ha! Did I just do that?" Alicia did a facepalm. "Of course," she muttered under her breath.

Kai looked at his sword. He swung it around a few times and it made a cool-looking motorbike. Zane did the same thing with his shurikens. They too made a motorbike. Cole followed last. After swinging his scythe around, it made a pretty cool car. "I hate to hurt Rocky's feelings," he said, "but I think he's just been replaced."

Alicia shook her head. Boys could be weird sometimes. Alicia wondered about herself. She had no weapons that could do what the Golden Weapons could. Yet, she figured she could be of some use. She could feel in the wind if they were getting close to their targets. "I'll stay behind," she finally said. "Nonsense," Zane responded. "You're coming with us," Cole added. "You can ride with me," Kai offered. "Thanks," Alicia said, gratefully.

Alicia found herself beginning to like Kai, and not just as a brother or friend, either. Not to mention that he was kind of cute. _Focus, Alicia_ , she thought to herself. Now was not the time.

Jay had successfully gotten the staff. The bad part was what happened afterwards. Jay had forgotten to concentrate, so his plane vanished. He started falling. "Jay, you have to concentrate!" Kai yelled. "I can't!" Jay yelled back. "We're gonna have to catch him," Cole said. Then the boys started arguing over who was going to catch Jay. It was no surprise to Alicia when all of their vehicles vanished.

As for Jay, he should probably be counting his lucky stars that Nya was able to catch him using his parents' car.

The four ninja (Jay wasn't with them yet) gathered as the Fangpyre started attacking. "Why isn't it working?" Kai asked. "Your weapon is merely an extension of your mind," Sensei said as Nya pulled the car up next to them. "If your mind is immobile, so is your weapon." Jay's father said some really random things that I personally feel as if they are not really necessary to put in the story. "Get in," he finally said. "We have to get back to headquarters," Jay said to Nya. "ASAP," Alicia added.

They got back to headquarters, but they knew that Lloyd and the Fangpyre would catch up to them sooner or later. Jay's parents went with Nya while Sensei and the ninja ran into the bridge. "Man the stations, everyone," Jay said. They all took position. "Jay, we better hurry," Kai called. "I've been waiting for this moment," Jay said. He pushed the button. Nothing happened. "They're gaining on us," Kai called. They looked at Alicia. "Don't look at me," she said. "The best I've ever done is rig a bathroom sink." Jay pounded on it while Cole rolled his eyes. "I don't get what's wrong," Jay said. "I spent forever on this. It's supposed to work." All Alicia knew was that Jay's father asked if he could help. Alicia was too busy to pay much notice. She shoved Kai out of the way so she could see.

"They'll be on us in five…" Alicia said, "four… three… two…" Alicia never got to one.

"So that's what they call a family," Alicia said to herself as she watched Jay and his family. Alicia felt heavy hearted for some reason. Maybe it was because she longed for her own family, the one she had lost so long ago. It all seemed like a dream now.

Kai walked up to Alicia. "So, what happened back there, with the wrecking ball?" he asked. Alicia looked down as he said, "You're usually so much better than that." "Flashbacks," she said simply. "Zane already know part of my story, but I've told no one else." She then told Kai her whole story, right up to the part where she met Sensei. Kai looked stunned when she had finished.

"You lost your _entire_ family in _one day_?" he asked. "The only member who I even think is still alive is my twin brother, Jackson," Alicia replied. Kai put his hand on her shoulder. "I promise, Alicia, we _will_ find your biological brother," he said. "I can't imagine being separated from Nya for eleven years, so can't even be sure what this might be like for you. It sure explains some things about you, though."

"Promise me something?" Alicia asked. "Sure," Kai replied. "What's the promise?" "Tell the others my story," Alicia said. "Will do, Alicia," Kai replied.

If you're at this part, than you've probably already read the prologue. If not, go back and read it now, for that is the first part of Alicia's story. For those who have read the prologue, and are curious about the rest of the story, here it is.

After Alicia was separated from Jackson, she was sent to an orphanage where she wasn't quite sure if she belonged there. She was often questioned for her story of how she got to the orphanage. Alicia, still rather stunned from her loss, only mumbled in answer. That only made the others more curious.

Alicia's roommate, Leona, was also her rival. This was because Leona loved being the center of attention, and she didn't like Alicia stealing the spotlight.

Alicia lived there until one night, about a year after she arrived, she decided to run away.

She sneaked away though the window at midnight. From there, she let the wind be her guide. She became a loner, traveling all over Ninjago, begging for food.

One night, about a year after she turned her back on the orphanage for good, she came upon some mountains. She would've been about seven at this point. What really surprised her about one of these mountains is that one of them had stairs carved into it. The wind guided her up the stairs and she, after the long, _long_ , climb, got to the top.

There was a building there, which completely surprised Alicia. Why on earth would a building be here, of all places? Alicia didn't care at this point, however, and she knocked. A kind looking old man answered. "Kind sir, may I seek shelter in your humble household?" Alicia asked. "Of course," the old man replied. "It's been so long since I've had any company. Stay as long as you like." "Oh, it's just for tonight," Alicia responded. "I was just getting dinner going, if you want," Dinner smelled wonderful. "Thank you, kind sir," Alicia said.

At dinner, Alicia found that this kind old man was a sensei, someone who trained ninja. "I sense something great in you," he said to Alicia. "I can see the colors in the air, mixing into cream when the wind blows," Alicia said. The sensei looked a little surprised. "Maybe someday, you could be a great ninja," he told her.

Alicia remembered seeing her first cream uniform about a month later, and she could remember greeting all of the other ninja as they arrived, one by one, as well as Nya, at the Monastery. You probably know the rest of the story from there

Nine years have passed since Alicia met Sensei Wu.

 **A/N: I know, I probably should've made the rest of Alicia's backstory another chapter, but with the way the TV show played out, it made more sense to do it this way.**

 **Sorry if I don't post** **consistently** **. I can never remember what day I first post a chapter or story (at least it makes it so you have to follow so you know when I post).**


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: AHHHHHH! Please don't kill me. I know this update is ultra-late. I've just been so caught up in the one-shot companion to this story that I completely forgot about it. I know, terrible excuse.**

 **Chapter IV**

Alicia woke up from another one of her nightmares. This time, things got really wild. Sometimes in those nightmares, Alicia's mind got pretty far from what really happened. Sometimes, Alicia dreamed that she was at the Monastery when it happened (don't ask her how the Monastery got so close to the sea in her dream), sometimes Jackson looked like one of the ninja (Kai, more often than not), and still other times the police officer was really Lord Garmadon (weird, right? [insert eye roll]).

This time, she was aboard the Destiny's Bounty (which was what their ship was named). All of the ninja were biological brothers (Nya was a biological sister) as well as Jackson. Sensei was her father and not just a father-figure. That police officer was Lord Garmadon. Lloyd Garmadon had the Serpentine destroy the Destiny's Bounty and kill Alicia's family so that she never became a ninja.

Yeah, it got really weird, and that's just the summarized version.

It ended when one of the Hypnobrai yelled in her face to wake up, in Nya's voice, of all things. Things had gotten so bizarre, that Alicia was almost glad to wake up. "You sounded like you were having some weird dream," Nya said when Alicia had fully woken up. "The craziest I've ever had. Alicia then proceeded to tell Nya about her dream.

"...and when I heard a Hypnobrai yell in your voice to wake up, I realized that things were so crazy, it _had_ to be a dream," Alicia finished. Nya was laughing, hard.

"That _is_ a weird dream," Nya agreed. "Now come on. You don't want to be late to your training."

Alicia got outside, ready for training. "Little slow today, huh?" Kai asked Zane. "What exactly did you dream about?" "I saw the falcon again," Zane answered. "Woah," Jay said. "Zane, every time you see that bird, something big happens. First, it led you to the secret tree house." "Then it led you to the Bounty," Cole added.

"All right." Sensei said, interrupting the boys' conversation. "Stretches. First, the Swooping Crane."

"This time, it showed me the Green Ninja," Zane whispered as he did the stretch. "The Green Ninja!" the other boys whisper-shouted.

"Boys," Sensei said. "That looks like the Shocked Monkey. Bad form, more focus." Alicia snickered.

 _Please blow towards the boys_ , Alicia thought, knowing that the wind would hear her mind. _I'm begging you_. The wind listened, and responded appropriately.

"Now, Pinching Crab," Sensei said. If only the boys had left their conversation for _after_ training, but noooo. They _had_ to talk about Zane's dream _during_ training.

All Alicia knew from the boys was that their conversation could, apparently, _not_ wait until after training, for Sensei had to go out of position just to get their attention, but it wasn't enough. He walked up to Kai and tugged on his hair. Kai shouted in pain. "What was so important to ignore my teachings?" Sensei asked, angrily.

"Nothing," Kai said. "It was nothing, Sensei," Jay added. "Yeah, we don't talk while you teach," Cole continued. "Everyone was paying attention," Zane concluded. "Except for four of us," Alicia said, glaring at the boys.

"Since you boys seem to be lacking in focus," Sensei said, "than you boys can all share in the punishment." "What?" Kai asked. "Punishment?" Jay asked. "It was all Zane," Cole said, pointing at Zane. "I was merely answering their questions," Zane said. "And making it hard for _some_ of us to focus!" Alicia shouted. "No free time, and no video games," Sensei said. "The rest of the day can be used for training. And tomorrow, for that matter. " "Training?" Kai asked. "For how long?"

"Until you can answer this simple riddle," Sensei replied. "What is the best way to defeat an enemy?" "Easy," Kai said immediately, "with a sword." "Your fists," Jay offered. "Spinjitzu," Cole supplied. "Tornado of Creation?" Zane suggested.

Alicia did a facepalm. "Some days just have 'long day' written all over them," she sighed. "This is one of them." Sensei sighed as well. "Pace yourselves," he said. "You have a lot of training ahead of you. Make sure to sharpen your mind as well as your Spinjitzu. And don't you dare give them the answer, Alicia."

The other ninja looked at her. "You know the answer?" Jay asked. "He laid it on me when Cole first arrived at the monastery," Alicia explained. It was common knowledge that Cole and Alicia tend not to get along very well. "It took me, like, a week to figure the answer out." She turned to Sensei. "You want me to come with you?" she asked. "Yes, Alicia," Sensei replied.

"Sensei?" Alicia asked. "Yes?" Sensei replied. Alicia smiled. "I think I've finally done it," she told him. "Done what?" Sensei asked. "Found my place."

Alicia opened a window and curious sounds came to her ears. Sounds of both the Fangpyre and Hypnobrai. One line stood out more than the others, for if Lloyd heard it (which he probably did considering it was said to him), it could mean doom for Ninjago. "Had you released the Constrictai, the Venomari, or heaven forbid the Anacondrai, then we would've had a tussle."

"...and I'm not sure what it means," Alicia told Nya later. "Two tribes released, only to unite?" Nya asked. "Yeah, that is pretty bad." Alicia looked out on deck. "I wonder what ridiculous idea the boys came up with this time," she said. Nya smiled.

Alicia wondered on deck to watch the boys make another attempt at the riddle. They were training rather hard. "Anyone got a solution to Sensei's riddle?" Cole asked. "It can't be that hard," Jay responded. "What's the best way to defeat an enemy?" "Zane, you're smart," Kai said. "What is it?" "I do not know," Zane replied, "but I sense that Sensei is going to keep us here if we don't work together and find an answer." "That bothers me," Cole said, "because if we're here working, that means the enemy is playing." Alicia chuckled. The answer actually _was_ that hard. _It's also the answer to 'What is the best way to get past a rivalry?'_ Alicia thought.

She remembered when Cole first started his training as a ninja. He had really gotten on Alicia's nerves until one day, she hit the breaking point. The two got in a really bad fight, which resulted in Cole getting a black eye and Alicia was covered with nasty bruises. There were also done broken bones involved. Sensei had pulled Alicia aside. That was the only time Alicia had ever blamed someone else for her own actions. Sensei had given her that riddle to try and make the two get along. "I think we can all agree that we disagree," Sensei had said. Alicia actually never figured the answer out on her own. Sensei had to tell her the answer.

When Alicia was alone, she got some training in. "A day without training is a day wasted" was her motto. If she didn't train for at least fifteen minutes each day, she went crazy. It was an unspoken agreement that everyone thought Alicia had ADHD. She couldn't get her mind off of her dream or what Lloyd was up to now.

It was wild, the thought that another Serpentine tribe was released. Yet, it made total sense. She heard a conversation between Lloyd and the last Anacondrai, Pythor, with the help of the wind. In that conversation, Lloyd said that he didn't have any friends. Alicia couldn't help but feel sorry for Lloyd.

The alarm blared. Alicia stopped training and ran to the bridge. "Break it down for me, sis," Kai told Nya. "Lloyd and a Serpentine have taken over Darkly's School for Bad Boys," she said. "That place is a cesspool for the crooked and the misbehaved," Jay said. "Doesn't mean they don't need our help," Cole said. "Step on it." Zane pushed the button.

"It wasn't just any Serpentine, either," Alicia said on the way. "Anacondrai, the most feared Serpentine tribe of them all." Yet, she felt like no one was listening to her.

"Looks quiet down there," Zane said when they got there. "Should we infiltrate using stealth?" Kai sighed. "We've tried that," he pointed. "What about using our Golden Weapons that turn into vehicles?" "I'm still working out the kinks on that," Cole said. "Anyone have any other good ideas?" "Well, I have one idea," Jay said, "but you guys gotta trust me." "I don't think I like the sound of this," Kai said. "You and me both," Alicia said.

The ninja all grabbed hold of the anchor of the Bounty. "Jay, I don't know about this," Kai said. "Just hold on tight!" Jay replied. The anchor fell. It was quite a thrill, if you ask Alicia. Lloyd and the Anacondrai got out of the way just in time.

They crashed through four floors and finally came to a complete stop. "Ow," Alicia said. "Okay, let's agree to never do that again," Cole said. He then proceeded to cut a rope that bound some school boys. "Stay outta school, kids," Cole said to them. He looked at the other two captives who were hanging from the ceiling. "Well, well, well," Cole said. "Kruncha and Nuckal. Substitute teachers, eh? If we cut you down, we better not catch you hang around Ninjago again. Or else." I don't think it's necessary to say that he cut them down.

"He's on the top floor," Kai said. "Let's get him." "Ninja go!" they shouted in unison. Everyone went a different direction. Jay ran off, Kai, Zane and Alicia did a little Spinjitzu to get going, and Cole climbed the anchor chain. The three ninja that stuck together climbed the stairs. Kai and Zane kicked open a door and then got trapped in some kind of green goop. Alicia jumped over it. "Go on without us," Kai told her. Alicia continued, not sure if she was doing the right thing. Alicia and Jay met up with Cole. He had just received a smoke bomb, at least, that's what Alicia thought.

It was down to Jay and Alicia. Alicia fell in a trick stair and got stuck. "Go on," Alicia said. "I'll only slow you down."

Jay continued.

Eventually, Alicia managed to get herself free. The others caught up with her. "To the roof," she told them. They got to the roof with no other incident. Jay had gotten Lloyd cornered. "Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon," Sensei said, "you come here right now." "I got him," Jay called as he picked Lloyd up. "Woah!" Lloyd shouted. "Hey, let me go!" "What should we do with him?" Cole asked. "Wash his mouth out with soap for a year?" "Ground him indefinitely?" Kai suggested. "Have him sit in the corner for a century?" Zane offered. "Boys," Alicia muttered. "I know exactly what we must do," Sensei said. "I think I know what that is," Alicia said.

They all got to the Bounty with no incident. Sensei (Alicia had called it) was currently reading Lloyd a bedtime story. The other ninja looked, at least a little, shocked as he did. "...and that is why Jack the Rabbit never trusts a snake," Sensei finished. "The end." "If my dad had read me that book, I would have never made that mistake," Lloyd said. "I'm sorry, uncle." "You do not need to apologize," Sensei replied. Alicia had been sitting nearby. "The important thing is to learn from our mistakes so that we don't make the same one again," she said. Sensei nodded. "I am sure that if your father was still here, it would be the first book he'd read," Sensei said to Lloyd.

Lloyd then turned to Alicia. "I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused you and your team," he said. Alicia shook her head. "No need to apologize," she said in response. "If anything, I should be thanking you. You added some fun to this whole post-Garmadon business. I was getting a little bored with training. I needed something else, or I was going to go after someone just so I could do something different." Sensei and Lloyd chuckled. "It's nice to see you so friendly to someone who is different from you," Sensei said. "Sensei," Alicia said, clearly embarrassed.

"Good night, nephew," Sensei said, turning back to his nephew. "Sweet dreams." Lloyd sighed contentedly. "Good night, uncle," he said.

Sensei and Alicia left Lloyd to rest.

On deck, the boys gathered to talk with Sensei. "I don't get it, Sensei," Kai said. "Why isn't the little brat getting punished?" Jay asked. "Yeah," Cole agreed, "we had to train all day and he gets read a bedtime story? It's not fair." "You're right, I nearly forgot," Sensei said. "Why are you not still training? Did you find the answer to my riddle?" Alicia snickered. Kai sighed. "No Sensei, we still don't know what the best way to defeat your enemy is," he said. "To give you a hint," Alicia said, "I at least want to say that he's a lucky kid. When I was his age, no one would read a bedtime story to me. I want to make sure he doesn't wind up closed off and unreachable like I was. Another hint is: it's the same answer to the riddle 'What is the easiest way to get past a rivalry without anyone getting hurt too badly. Also, what is the opposite of an enemy?" The boys only shook their heads and walked away looking rather sad. "It is to make them your friend," Sensei said. The boys all half groaned-half sighed.

"If it makes you feel any better," Alicia said, "when he first laid that riddle on me, _I_ couldn't figure it out." "You?" Kai asked. "But you can figure _anything_ out," Cole added. Alicia chuckled. "Anything except that riddle," Alicia replied. Sensei nodded and smiled.


	6. Chapter 5

It was a typical morning. Alicia was thinking about doing some training before the heat of the day hit. Lloyd came in, whistling, almost suspiciously.

"Morning, Alicia," he said. "Morning, Lloyd," Alicia returned. She continued to the supply closet. "I saw Zane putting the equipment away rather carelessly," Lloyd said. "I told him to be a bit more careful with it, but he didn't listen." "You must've been seeing things," Alicia replied. "Zane is never careless." "I might be wrong," he said, "but I'm sure it was Zane. Later." He whistled as he made his exit.

Alicia shook her head. What did he know? A lot, apparently, for when Alicia opened the closet, a bunch of training equipment fell out. "Zane!" Alicia shouted.

"You couldn't just be happy with the top score?" Kai yelled at Cole. "You had to rub it in my face?" "You know how long it took me to make that?" Cole asked Jay. "Three days. Three days!" "It's an unsaid law, okay?" Jay asked Alicia. "You don't touch a man's robot!" "If you can't put something away correctly, don't put it away at all!" Alicia yelled at Zane. "How am I supposed to strike fear in this?" Zane asked Kai. "It's pink!" Alicia turned to Jay. "I didn't touch your (bleep, bleep) robot!" she yelled.

Everyone was arguing now. They heard cackling and they all gasped. "You did this?" they yelled at Lloyd. "Guys, I got first dibs on," Cole said through gritted teeth. "No dibs," Sensei said. "Not even one punch?" Alicia asked. Sensei glared at her.

"I put him up to this for today's lesson," he said. "I wanted to show you the destructive power of rumors, and that jumping to conclusions can only lead to trouble. Did you ever think to find it if the accusations were true?" "It might've crossed my mind," Alicia admitted. "No offense, Sensei," Cole said, "but let me jump to this conclusion: today's lesson is lame."

"Yeah," Jay agreed. "Why can't you teach us how to paralyze an enemy with one finger? Or find out if a man is lying by the twitch of his nose?" "Because not all lessons are about fighting," Sensei answered, rather angrily. "And I misplaced my lesson book." "You mean this lesson book?" Kai asked, pulling a book out of Lloyd's back pocket. "It was the perfect plan," Lloyd said, "until you had to show up and mess everything up..." Cole shut the door on him before he could finish speaking (and might've been doing everyone a favor by doing so).

"If you're done fooling around, I could use you guys on the bridge," Nya said over the P.A. "We do still have a snake problem to attend to. Over and out."

"It's one thing to let the son of your nemesis live with you," Kai said, "but my sister here? I mean come on. I thought this was a _ninja_ headquarters." "You do know I can hear you," Nya said. "Over and out."

"Nya has the potential to become a ninja," Alicia said. "And besides. Who else is going to keep Kai in check when all the ninja are doing their own thing?" All the ninja looked at Kai with open jaws. "What?" he asked.

"Kai," Jay said. "Coming from Alicia, you just got roasted."

"Last we heard of Pythor, he stole the Map of Dens from Lloyd," Nya said on the bridge, "and is now on his way to open the last two Serpentine tombs." Lloyd groaned. "Don't remind me," he said. Alicia's mind started wondering. She couldn't help but wonder why Lloyd had all that green energy surrounding him.

Part of seeing the colors in the air meant that Alicia could see what kind of energy surrounded the Masters. For example, Kai had a red energy surrounding him while Cole had black.

 _Could Lloyd Garmadon be the Green Ninja?_ She asked herself. She forced her mind to more pressing matters. "But those tombs could be anywhere," Jay said. "Without the Map of Dens, we might as well be throwing darts at a map."

"Good idea," Nya said. "Why don't we?" She threw two darts that nearly hit Kai. "These are the two locations of the Hypnobrai and Fangpyre tombs," she said.

"Show off," Kai said. "No," Alicia corrected. "She's just really smart." Nya place a third dart on the map. "And this is Pythor's tomb," she said. "After many hours of ruminating on why the tombs were placed in these three precise locations, I discovered a secret pattern."

Nya pulled out a flashlight and pointed it at the map. "If you notice," she continued, "all three are in line with the Ninjago symbol for serpent." "So the last two tombs must be here and here," Jay concluded, pointing at the map. "You are so smart," he said to Nya. "Was there ever any doubt?" Nya asked. For the first time, Alicia wondered if Nya had a crush on Jay. The two were practically made for each other.

Alicia snapped her mind back to reality. "Kai and Jay, you head to the Venomari tomb. Cole, Zane, and Alicia, you take the Constrictai tomb. And take this," he told them as he held the sacred flute. "You might need it if you run into Pythor. Good luck, ninja."

"What am I gonna do?" Nya asked. "Yeah," Lloyd added, "what are we gonna do?" "Nya, I need you here to make sure Lloyd doesn't get into any more trouble," Sensei said. "Yes, Sensei," Nya replied, sounding more than a little annoyed.

"Ouch," Alicia whispered to Nya. "Babysitting duty." "Just go, you lucky duck," Nya answered. "Hey, I didn't ask to be put on a team of totally oblivious boys who take video games more seriously than training."

After Alicia had tagged along with Cole (which had been a pretty awkward ride), they got to the Constrictai tomb. Alicia snickered when she saw Zane in his now pink suit.

"Well, our vehicles won't traverse the steps," Cole said. "We'll go the rest of the way on foot." "But this is the Mountain of a Million Steps," Zane put in. "Aren't we pressed for time?" "Then we take a shortcut," Alicia said.

Soon, the three of them were climbing the mountain. Zane was on Cole's back while Alicia, having gotten really good at climbing while she was a loner, went on her own.

Alicia got to the top first. She waited for the other two to catch up. There was a rope tied to a rock above the hole that was probably the entrance to the Constrictai tomb. "Looks like Pythor was already here," Zane said, taking the words right out of Alicia's mouth. "Let's go investigate," Alicia said. "Gimme a sec," Cole panted. "Go on and start without me."

Zane and Alicia climbed down the rope and landed on some kind of stone table. Zane pulled out a torch and Alicia lit it with a match. They walked towards a wall. Cole came down right then. "Didn't Momma Snake ever tell them not to draw on the wall?" he asked.

"These images describe a legend of a one tribe uniting them all," Zane said. "Those snakes had been at war with each other for centuries," Cole replied. "Probably would've done anything for peace," Alicia added. "Well it says here, once they unite, they can find the four Silver Fang Blades that will unleash the Great Devourer," Zane said, "an evil that will consume all the land, turning day into night."

Alicia zoned out. The Devourer. Seemed like only yesterday it happened.

 _She was four, playing a game with her brother and two best friends. Alicia's toy sword flew out of her hand and she rushed into the bushes to get it. Suddenly, she was face-to-face with a venom-green snake. It lunged at her, and would've bitten her if her cousin hadn't whacked the thing with a stick. It almost bit him, but he was too clever. The face-off seemed to last forever, the snake scratching her cousin's ankle with the claw-like thing on its tail. In the end, Alicia's cousin emerged victorious, but he was never the same. There was a small amount of venom in the tail, weak, but just strong enough to make a difference. Her cousin was never fully evil, but he was more prone to anger after that encounter._

She was suddenly brought to her senses by an...Earthquake? "There's something in the ground," Cole said. "Don't move," Alicia told them.

A Serpentine came up behind them and wrapped his tail around Zane. "I've been waiting for you," he said. "Pythor sends his regards." "Did you stay behind just to tell us that?" Zane asked. "Pathetic." "Look who's calling who pathetic, Pinky," replied the Constrictai.

"Only I call him Pinky," Cole said as he swung his scythe around. He slammed it against the ground, causing the Constrictai to let go of Zane. The Serpentine went underground. "Zane, Alicia, go for the rope," Cole told them. They ran and Cole followed behind.

Zane and Alicia heard a shout. "Cole?" Zane asked. "Gimme that," Alicia said, taking the torch from Zane. She held it out as Cole was thrown out of a hole in the ground. The Serpentine dug through the ground and right at him. Cole pulled out the flute and started playing. The Constrictai popped out of the ground and covered his ears (if he had any).

"No!" he shouted, as he wrapped his tail around Cole. The music stopped instantly. "Zane, Alicia," Cole said, as he struggled to breathe. The Constrictai squeezed harder and Cole dropped the flute.

Zane took immediate action. "Ninja go!" he shouted as he launched into Spinjitzu. Zane grabbed the flute and he started playing. The Constrictai grabbed hold of Zane by the neck with one of his hands. Zane dropped the flute.

Alicia, sensing that they really needed her help now, rushed up, grabbed the flute, jumped out of the Serpentine's reach, and played.

That did it. The Constrictai let go of both Zane and Cole. "Wrap your head around this," Cole said as he hit the Serpentine on the back of the head with his weapon. "Good one," Zane panted. "Thanks," Cole replied. "But if he was expecting us, then I think Kai and Jay are walking into a trap." "Then what are we waiting for?" Alicia asked. "Let's go."

"Looks like we made it just in time," Alicia said, as she and the two boys rushed in to help Kai and Jay. "Anyone order a little kick butt?" Cole asked. His voice echoed through the Venomari tomb. Jay laughed. "Really?" Alicia asked.

Pythor leapt out of the Venomari tomb and yelled "Boo!" Jay gave a slight scream. Alicia facepalmed. Of everything they've been through, Jay still screams at something meant to scare little kids.

The five ninja gathered. Zane pulled out the Flute and started playing. Pythor grabbed it with his tail. "No," he said. "Let's not let music ruin things, hmm?"

The other Serpentine were closing in. It seemed over for the ninja. They jumped onto a log that immediately started floating away from safe ground.

"I've got a _sinking_ feeling this will be the last I see of you five," Pythor taunted. "Hey, bad puns are _my_ gig!" Alicia yelled. Her teammates facepalmed.

"That's it," Cole declared. "I used to hate dragons, but now, I officially hate snakes."

"Wait, do you see that?" Kai asked. "A magic floating rope. We can climb to safety." Jay pulled the Master of Fire back before he could walk off the log and into the bog (and just try saying _that_ five times fast).

"Boy, that Venomari venom is some powerful stuff," Jay commented.

Alicia glanced over at her teammates. "Ohhhh, sorry, boys," she apologized. "You're on your own." "What?!" Jay demanded, as Alicia used her Wind abilities to propel herself upwards and onto a branch overlooking the Serpentine.

"For whatever it is worth, it was an honor to fight alongside you all," Zane stated. "Me too," Cole agreed. "Yeah, ditto," Jay added.

A rope dropped seemingly from nowhere. "Hey, what?" Cole asked.

"The magic rope," Kai simply said. "Quick, everyone, climb over!" Jay exclaimed.

Pythor, meanwhile, was looking very surprised indeed. Especially after a huge mech landed behind him.

Alicia grinned under her mask. She knew exactly what was going on.

The Samurai X launched a metallic net at the Serpentine. However, only two Constrictai were caught, and they simply dug their way out.

The mech opened to reveal the Samurai. "Pythor target confirmed," they said. "Time to bag, and tag." With that, they shot Pythor with what looked like a tracking device. The boys, meanwhile, managed to get onto safe ground.

"Who are you?" Zane asked. "How about the coolest thing I've ever seen!" Jay exclaimed. "Santa?" Kai asked. Alicia have him a weird look. "Kai, it's January," she reminded him.

Zane walked up to the Samurai. "Thank you, mysterious warrior," he said. "I owe you my life for saving…" The Samurai cut him short by knocking him out with some kind of gas, or something (Alicia wasn't sure).

"Now that wasn't nice!" Jay exclaimed, right before he and the other two boys were knocked out as well.

Alicia hopped down from the tree branch. "I see you got my call," she stated. On the way, Alicia had called for backup from the Bounty. The Samurai nodded. "Remember, Alicia, this remains between us," she said. "I know, Nya," Alicia replied. "Girl power."

"Girl power," Nya replied before hopping into her mech and flying off. A searchlight from the Bounty beamed down as soon as Nya was out of sight. Alicia waved up at it.

"So then, just when we were gonna bite it, this huge mechanical robot, who…" Jay stated, telling the story for Lloyd and Sensei Wu (okay, he was telling it for Nya as well). "Samurai, it was samurai," Zane interrupted. "A samu-what?" Lloyd asked. "Samurai," Wu corrected him. "Highest level of warrior class. They would protect nobility, and serve with honor on the battlefield."

Alicia zoned out on them. She did not have the best history with samurai.

 _When Alicia was three, she, her brother, and two best friends, twins Eric and Amy Yisosh, decided to start up a little mini-movie series. Since the four of them were into the traditions and culture of the ninja, they called it the Ninja Squad. Soon after posting their seventh video, which the first had been an overnight sensation, a rip-off was made. They were a group of five who called themselves the Samurai Squad._

 _Ninja and samurai clashed, considering both were filmed in the same neighborhood, until fans decided the two should have a battle to determine who was better. Ninja Squad won, but you did see the Samurai Squad make a special appearance every so often._

She came back to her senses when Nya asked, "When is this Venomari spit supposed to wear off? It's starting to get annoying." Kai put a piece of food onto his face, getting nowhere near his mouth. Zane, Lloyd, and Jay gave the Fire Ninja weird looks. Alicia only chuckled to herself. _It may be annoying, but it sure makes an interesting dinner conversation,_ she thought.

"Okay, don't let this mysterious samurai cloud what's really important," Cole reminded them. "All the Serpentine are out, and if Pythor can unite them, the legends states some Great Devourer is gonna consume the land, and…" "Great Devourer?" Nya asked, interrupting. "Whatever it is, it's a can of worms I don't want to see open," Cole said, not really answering Nya's question.

Lloyd groaned. "It's all my fault," he moaned. "If I hadn't opened the first hatch, none of this would've happened. Alicia shook her head. "Maybe it was, but you still have the chance to redeem yourself." she told him. "The first step to doing that is to gain the trust of those you have wronged." Sensei nodded his approval. "Alicia is right," he told the young blonde. "You should listen to her. At any rate, we cannot change the past, but we can affect the future. At least we have the Sacred Flute in our possession, so…"

"Yeah, about that," Jay imputed, nervously. "Pythor sort of… Stole it," Zane finished.

"The last Sacred Flute? Gone?!" Sensei asked. He sighed. "You five are Ninjago's last hope." The alarm blared. "Cold vision must've caught something!" Nya exclaimed. "That means the Serpentine are nearby." "Oh no, Ninjago City?" Cole asked.

They all raced to the bridge. "How many are there?" Cole asked. "Looks like all of them," Kai answered. "Pythor must be trying to unite them," Zane concluded. "Well, let's get down there before that can happen," Alicia told them.

The five ninja immediately darted off, Spinjitzuing into their uniforms. Alicia smirked as she was, once again, reminded of the fact that the boys still didn't have the ZX suits. She was still ahead of them in skill.

Zane glanced down at his pink gi and sighed. "I must get this taken care of," he commented. Alicia giggled.

Kai toppled over. Alicia now realized that this was going to be a pretty big problem.

"Don't worry, it'll wear off soon," Jay assured him. "For now, you're coming with me." Alicia nodded.

Alicia tagged with Zane as the five ninja left for Ninjago City. "I love the smell of land hurtling towards you in middle of the night!" Cole exclaimed.

Alicia whooped as the city got closer. Zane formed his motorbike and ride down a building.

After gathering, the boys only stood in awe at everything. Ninjago City, however, only brought back memories for Alicia.

 _About a month had passed since Alicia turned her back on the orphanage. She had covered decent ground, but knew they would be after her._

 _After coming across Ninjago City, Alicia fell in with the street kids. She explained her situation and they took her in. They taught her their ways, and she taught them a few things as well_

 _One day, about nine months after she fell in with them, Alicia saw a gang beating up a couple five-year-old street kids. Alicia, naturally, was less than pleased. She stormed up to the gang and demanded that they leave. The gang simply laughed, until the winds grew to the point of a tornado. Alicia realized in that moment that family wasn't defined by blood, but defined by who you care about most._

 _A tornado touched down right where Alicia was standing. The gang had asked her why she cared so much about two five-year-olds who probably didn't even know her name. They got their answer then: "If we don't have each other, what do we have?"_

 _No gang bothered the street kids after that_

"But, may I remind you, where are the snakes?" Zane asked, snapping Alicia out of her thoughts. "We should be standing in the middle of a massive Serpentine gathering." "Unless…" Alicia started. "Unless what?" Jay asked. "Unless we're _above_ them," Alicia quickly answered, pulling a manhole cover off the manhole.

"How did you know that was there?" Cole asked. "Later," Alicia answered. "Right now, we have some snakes to take care of."

Cole sighed as the ninja, one by one went into the manhole. "I hate snakes," he reminded them. "Coming, Rock Brain?" Alicia asked. Cole nodded.

The ninja rushed in to find all the snakes. "Now what?" Alicia asked. "We can't just simply attack. That's just asking for trouble. But we can't just sit around and do nothing." Kai's eyes lit up. "I think I have an idea," he told them. "Remember Sensei's 'lesson' from earlier?" There was no need to to say anything more on that subject.

The ninja soon got into their positions and awaited Kai's signal. As soon as Pythor mentioned his plan, Kai slid down a rope that the ninja had skillfully tied to the ceiling. "That sounds like a great plan, but you know the Hypnobrai will screw it up," he said.

The plan proceeded. Jay said, "Those buck teeth can be my rear end," behind the Fangpyre. "I bet they're drinking their own venom," Cole muttered behind the Venomari. "All that digging must have been giving them dirt for brains," Zane said. To top it all off, Alicia snuck up behind the generals and whispered, "I bet that Anacondrai will just take all the credit for himself."

That really set Pythor off. It was then Skales saw Cole. One by one, the ninja were picked off and captured. Alicia was the third one they managed to catch. She tried fighting back, but was hopelessly outnumbered.

"Did you take care of them?" Pythor snapped. "All but one," Skales answered, as a Hypnobrai opened a door to reveal the four ninja. "Search every nook and cranny," Pythor ordered. "If he's a ninja, you'll never find him in plain sight." Alicia didn't have much time to wonder where Zane was before a random Constrictai shouted, "Look! A pink ninja!"

A wave of relief rushed into Alicia, as she shouted, "Go, pink ninja, Go!" with the boys. As soon as there was no attention on them, Alicia whispered to Cole, "That felt weird." Cole simply nodded.

Zane darted up to them. "Now, let's get out of here," he said. "Yes, let's," Alicia agreed.

The ninja easily swung over the Serpentine, and were able to get away. They were successful, after all.

The Serpentine, however, wouldn't give up without a fight. They followed the small group as they made their getaway.

"Let us blow this popsicle stand!" Zane exclaimed. "Popsicle stand," Jay echoed. He chuckled. "I like it."

Zane used his shurikens to freeze the hall before them. He then made his motorbike, and gestured for all the ninja to climb on. "There's not enough room for all five of us," Kai pointed. Alicia smirked. "A good ninja is always prepared," she stated, as she pulled a rope of the quiver she always kept on her back. She tied one end around her waist and the other end to Zane's motorbike.

"Well, you _want_ them to catch us?" She snapped when nobody moved. "Get going!"

Alicia whooped as they sped through the tunnels. Who says missions have to be all serious, all the time?

Jay, meanwhile, was just barely holding on to the exhaust pipe.

"You know, whether it was in a lesson book or not, we used the destructive power of rumors to our advantage," Cole stated as they finished dinner. "And the Serpentine are further away than ever from getting their act together," Kai added.

"I don't think we would've gotten out of there if it hadn't been for Zane," Jay commented. "Don't thank me, thank Lloyd," Zane stated. "If it hadn't been for his 'laundry skills,' we all would've been found."

Alicia laughed with everyone else, once again reminded of where she truly belonged. She smiled sadly. Her brother would love this.

Lloyd walked in. "Well, it took me twenty loads," he stated, causing raised windows from Alicia, "but your suit's no longer pink. And to show that I'm sorry, Cole, I got you a can of nuts."

Cole, of course, didn't think to kindly about that last part. "Don't think I don't see what this is," he chuckled. "When I open this, a bunch of snakes are gonna pop out, right? No thank you."

With that, the Earth Elemental walked over to the fridge and pulled it open. Everyone laughed as Cole was ambushed by a bunch of rubber snakes. "I- I so g- got ya," Alicia stated through her laughter.

As Alicia got ready for bed that night, she could hear something calling her name. _What now?_ she thought bitterly at the wind's voice. _Every time I think I've found my place, you call me off._

That didn't stop the calls. Half sighing, half groaning, she walked out on deck. Following the wind, Alicia looked back about seventeen times. She looked up. "Really?" she asked, harshly.

What followed after was a rant that didn't really sound like it should be coming from a Wind Elemental that hardly ever speaks.

 _ **Patience, Mistress Alicia,**_ the wind seemed to say. _**You belong there. I am just leading you down a different path. Everyone has a different path they must follow. They all, however, lead the hiker back home. Mistress Alicia, please follow me, for still longer. I assure you, this will benefit you and your team. Just believe and have faith.**_

Alicia sighed, knowing her Element was right. "All right, but if I miss anything cool, I'm blaming it on you," she stated.

With that thought, Alicia followed the wind, not knowing where she would end up this time.

 **A/N: I really need to work on this more. Oh well.**

 **Thanks to WindNinja333 for your constant reviews. Sorry you have to wait so long for chapters.**

 **On another note, Ninjago Hunted is out. I think I have a new favorite season. Next up: 2019 Ninjago! I don't know about anyone else, but I am super psyched.**

 **What does everyone think of the new summery? I, for one, think it's way better than the first.**

 **I only have one more thing to say. Seeing as Alicia's going to be doing her own thing, what should I do for the next few chapters? Should I do a series of flashbacks, or should Alicia do something else? I'm going to let you, as the readers, decide.**

 **Don't forget to review!**

 **~NG**


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: Holy smokes! Has it really been that long since I last updated? Well, sorry for my ultra** **inconsistent publishing schedule. Also, I apologize in advance if this chapter is insanely boring. I just couldn't find a better plotline considering Alicia's Element called her off to who knows where, leaving her team high and dry.**

Alicia stirred awake just as the dawn was breaking. _**Good morning, Mistress,**_ the wind said. _**How was your sleep?**_ "Okay, but I think I've requested this before," Alicia answered. "Don't call me 'Mistress.' It makes me feel old."

The wind chuckled before forming its true form, which only a select few could see. It looked almost like Alicia. The only difference was that it had a silver streak in its hair whereas Alicia had cream. _**That's nice,**_ it answered.

Alicia smiled as she leaned back onto her hands. Dawn was just breaking. She smirked, remembering that one day, last year…

 _Alicia had been sparring with Zane while Jay and Cole were taking turns, trying to beat Alicia's record on the training course. Sensei had then come out and request that Alicia come with him to run some errands. After telling the boys that they had better train or else, they left to a remote village known as Ignacia. They found a boy about Jay's age and a girl about a couple years younger._

 _After a brief chat- in which Alicia had told the siblings, yes she knew they were siblings, to ignore her sensei. After they had started heading back, dark clouds started forming. Sensing something was wrong, student and teacher turned back to find Kai and Nya- the names of the siblings- in a battle against some skeletons._

" _Lord Garmadon says 'take the girl!" what appeared to be the leader of the skeletons yelled. "Lord Garmadon!" Wu echoed in shock. Knowing Nya was in more trouble, and that Wu could take care of Kai by himself, Alicia dove to save the raven-haired girl._

 _It failed. The Master of Wind was captured as well._

" _Alicia!" Wu yelled. "Take Kai back to the monastery!" Alicia yelled back. "He's more important than I at this period in time!"_

 _ **Mistress?**_ The wind asked. "For the last (bleep)ing time, don't call me 'mistress!'" Alicia demanded. The wind chuckled. _**It feels wrong otherwise, though,**_ it argued. "Just shut up," Alicia said in mock annoyance. Master and Element laughed. _**But in all seriousness,**_ the wind said, changing the subject, _**where in time were you in just now?**_

"I was back to when I tried and failed to save Nya from those skeletons," was the ninja's answer. "That was one weird week." _**How was it that you escaped again?**_ asked the ind. "I believe it was Nya that saved me" Alicia answered. "If I remember correctly, she shoved me off a cliff and told me to keep an eye on her brother."

 _ **Interesting character, that Nya,**_ the wind commented. "That she is," was the reply of the Wind Elemental, as she stood. _**Does she still not know that you look up to her?**_

"I don't think so, why?"

 _ **She deserves to know. She only truly knew her brother until recently, remember.**_

"At least she knows her brother."

Alicia sighed. The wind glanced at her.

 _ **You will find him,**_ the Wind assured. _**Maybe not today or tomorrow, but someday.**_

"How will I know it's him, though? We haven't seen each other in _years_. Look at how much I've changed. How will he have changed? Will he even still remember me?"

 _ **He remembers you. Mis- Alicia,**_ **you** _**must remember that people don't change; they only develop deeper characters and show who they truly are. You live in the past. You must eventually learn to let go, to move on. You can't let it haunt you forever.**_

"Watch me."

The wind sighed. _**Someday, you are going to wish you hadn't spent so much time trying to hide yourself,**_ it warned. _**In the years after you unlocked your True Potential, you have lost yourself to you. You are Alicia Luna Lieson: Master of Wind. Daughter of Xavier Skye Lieson and Penelope Rose Cook. First female descendant of Luna: the Wind Being. Don't ever forget this, for you are of great importance.**_

"Why can't it be Jackson!? Or Aiden!? I'm just the broken ninja who knows too many things and has suffered too much! It's _too much_! _I can't take it anymore_!"

 _ **Some things cannot be shared until a later time. Yes, you have been broken, but everyone is at some point. Take poor Lloyd as an example. He grew up thinking he had to be evil to have a place in the world. In reality, all he was ever doing was looking for a chance, and for someone to give him that chance. It's why he released the Serpentine.**_

"But us ninja took Lloyd in, and I'm fairly certain he's the Green Ninja. Once that's established, we see that the four other ninja have a prophecy about them: the protectors of the Green Ninja. Where do I fit in in all this? I'm just another ninja. Maybe I was never supposed to become a ninja."

 _ **You are a ninja, Alicia. Isn't the first rule that ninja never quit? And yet, you are now giving in to your voice of doubt, of fear.**_

Alicia thought about this. The wind was right: she was giving in to her voice of doubt and fear. She closed her eyes. What should she do?

 _ **Do not be ashamed, Mi- Alicia,**_ the Wind told her. _**It happens to the best of us.**_

"I'm hungry," Alicia put in five minutes later. The Wind just laughed. _**I imagine so,**_ it replied.

They came upon a little town about an hour later. Thankfully, it had a small cafe.

Alicia looked out the window of the cafe. The clouds aimlessly drifted in the wild blue yonder. _I guess we're all like clouds, in a way,_ she thought. _We all just want to go and see where our lives lead us, regardless of direction._

She vaguely wondered what the boys were doing. Perhaps something with the Serpentine? Maybe Lloyd decided to start a prank war (Alicia would be so mad if she missed that!)?

She shook her head. _Nonsense,_ she thought. Besides, whatever they're doing, they could probably take care of it themselves. _Probably_.

She yawned. Somehow, it had gotten to sundown. Just how long _had_ she been walking? She walked around, eventually finding a motel to stay at until she could get back on the road.

As she drifted off, she heard a faint voice through the wind. "As iron sharpens iron, sibling sharpens sibling." "Very funny," Alicia muttered, sleepily.

She had the most unusual dream that night.

 _She was lost in a dark forest. She called out, but no one answered. After a while, she saw a small glimmer of light. As she got closer, she realized it was a ninja: gold in color. In front of this ninja, there were two great shadows. The ninja looked to her. "Help me," he pleaded._

 _The smaller of the two shadows (why was it violet?) looked at her as well. "_ _ **You weakling!**_ " _it roared mockingly. "_ _ **You know you can never defeat us! Look at how you abandoned your team!**_ "

" _Shut up,_ shut up _!" Alicia cried. As if to prove it's point, the shadow moved to reveal everyone, except they were darker. Evil had overcome them. The shadows had overcome them._

She sat bolt upright, gasping. _Just a dream,_ she thought, relieved. She stared out the window.

 _Or was it?_

 **A/N: Well, folks, there you have it. I have a headcanon in which the Masters are able to communicate with their Elements, as shown in this chapter. Yes, Alicia practically worships Nya, don't judge. Also, shoutout to whoever can figure out who "Aiden" is.**

 **Review!**

 **~NG**


	8. Another Unfortunate Author's Note

**Alicia: Master of Wind was my first ever multi-chapter Ninjago fanfiction. I first started writing her story when I was younger, and a less experienced writer. I've recently started rewriting the Alicia universe to make it better. And better it is.**

 **So that means that I'll have to delete this story soon, but keep an eye out for the season one rewrite. Coming whenever I finish Day of the Great Devourer in her universe!**

 **With all the love a writer can give her readers**

 **~NG**


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